Amazon wants to connect doorbell cameras to facial recognition databases, with the ability to call the police if any “suspicious” people are detected. https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/amazons-disturbing-plan-add-face-surveillance-yo-0

Organizers of a Christmas event have apologized to outraged parents after a fire alarm reportedly prompted Santa Claus to burst out of his grotto, rip off his beard and scream at children to "get the f**k out." https://cnn.it/2RR5LzW

After a year of reporting, "Saving Grace" published today. To its core, this story is about parents who just want their kids to be healthy.
This is Part I of the Millers' story. The Part II will be published tomorrow.
https://www.delawareonline.com/in-depth/news/health/2018/12/12/dover-amish-community-some-children-victims-genetic-diseases/2124246002/

Have you ever doubled over so hard from laughing that you hit your head on the coffee table? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/steve-bannon-sex-robot-conference-lsr-ace-2018-adrian-cheok-university-montana-a8680336.html?amp#click=https://t.co/ILNwsgbz9r

I went looking for the charitable foundation Jack Dorsey said he created in 2015. I found no hard evidence of any entity that had given away any money. There may have been grants—but if so they were cloaked in legally permitted secrecy. https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Where-is-Jack-Dorsey-s-charitable-foundation-13459066.php

> So besides the obvious reasons—a disastrous military intervention in Yemen, the brazen murder of Khashoggi, the jailing of reformers, the forced resignation of the prime minister of another country, the plan to build a moat around a neighboring country, and the apparently blind arrogance that makes all this possible—what is behind the anti-Mohammed bin Salman caterwauling?

A Swedish-Iraqi student was rescued from an ISIS held town sometime in 2014 by mercenaries in four SUV’s hired by his thesis advisor and we’re only just hearing about it. 😬 https://www.thelocal.se/20181213/lund-professor-freed-student-from-islamic-state-warzone

> The halt in funding is retroactive to April 1, 2018, and includes almost $800,000 in operational grants for the College's current budget year, which made up one-third of its budget. The government informed the College on Nov. 8, eight months into the fiscal year.

> Midwives deliver 15 per cent of the babies born in Ontario, care for 12 to 14 per cent of pregnant women and are turning away clients because they can’t meet the demand, according to the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM), which plays an advocacy and support role for midwives.

Slightly torn on this. My initial reaction is "Ford, wtf", but supposedly midwives are paid $104k and $130k ($74k - $89k after taxes), and there's 900 of them, so expecting them to pay an additional $888 funds per year doesn't seem outrageous given their salaries.

but of course stuff like this:

> "Our relatively low membership numbers compared to other regulated health colleges mean that our revenue is not sufficient to meet our expenses," the College writes in its annual report. "In acknowledgment of this discrepancy, the Ministry provides funding annually to allow the College to fulfill its mandate of regulating midwifery in the public interest."

Makes it seem like they should be increasing their funding

or maybe members should also pay abit more too, shrug

Either way I'm sure Fords stance has nothing to do with any of this, and is basically him continuing his attacks on any programs which help someone who isn't him

Kansas State Sen. Barbara Bollier has announced that after 43 years as a registered Republican and 10 years as a GOP lawmaker she is switching parties, saying Republicans’ stances on LGBTQ issues, particularly transgender rights, pushed her over the edge. https://nbcnews.to/2RUofiS

Some background on Hicks here: Together with Don Jr. and Eric, he set up a nonprofit to monetize access to the Trump family over inauguration weekend. https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/donald-trumps-sons-behind-nonprofit-selling-access-to-president-elect/
After @publici reported on the effort, the nonprofit cancelled the plans. https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/how-a-trumped-up-fundraiser-with-the-first-family-imploded/ https://twitter.com/politicoalex/status/1073563471818711041

> The College of Midwives of Ontario was established with the proclamation of the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) and the Midwifery Act, 1991 on December 31, 1993 to govern midwifery. The mandate of the College is to regulate the profession of midwifery in accordance with the RHPA. The College’s primary obligation to the public is to ensure that members of the profession are qualified, skilled, and competent in the area in which they practise.

I've been reporting on hieleras, the iceboxes that people (including children) who cross the border are placed in by Border Patrol, longer than any reporter I know. And I'm really bothered about the way the death of the 7-year-old child is being reported.

Not all of the material in the Steele dossier has been proven, write @segrant39 and Chuck Rosenberg. But none has been disproven. As a raw intelligence document, the dossier holds up well. https://www.lawfareblog.com/steele-dossier-retrospective

Yep. The dossier was never intended to be evaluated like you would a "final report", it is the initial raw information gathered straight from sources in the field.

But that Lawfare article is largely positive on the Dossier

> The Mueller investigation has clearly produced public records that confirm pieces of the dossier. And even where the details are not exact, the general thrust of Steele’s reporting seems credible in light of what we now know about extensive contacts between numerous individuals associated with the Trump campaign and Russian government officials.

> However, there is also a good deal in the dossier that has not been corroborated in the official record and perhaps never will be—whether because it’s untrue, unimportant or too sensitive. As a raw intelligence document, the Steele dossier, we believe, holds up well so far. But surely there is more to come from Mueller’s team. We will return to it as the public record develops.

> “To the extent that the Plaintiffs call into question the wisdom of using RCV, they are free to do so but . . . such criticism falls short of constitutional impropriety,” Walker wrote. “A majority of Maine voters have rejected that criticism and Article I (of the U.S. Constitution) does not empower this Court to second guess the considered judgment of the polity on the basis of the tautological observation that RCV may suffer from problems, as all voting systems do.”

For @MotherJones, I wrote about Somdeng Danny Thongsy and more than 20 other Southeast Asian refugees who are hoping a pardon from Jerry Brown will halt their deportations. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/12/southeast-asian-refugees-pardon-thongsy/

Boom. Former Snopes ME after their work w/Facebook: “I strongly believe that they are spreading fake news on behalf of hostile foreign powers and authoritarian governments as part of their business model.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/dec/13/they-dont-care-facebook-fact-checking-in-disarray-as-journalists-push-to-cut-ties

Imagine finding a cache of water in the desert and pouring it out.
It’s the sort of impossibly cruel thing you might dream about doing in a nightmare and feel sick and wrong for a week after.
Apparently SOP on the border.
https://t.co/E9LJuHd1SX

Mattis recommended Priebus to the Navy, saying that “@Reince ’s experience, education, and personality make him an ideal fit to be commissioned into the Navy Reserve.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/former-trump-chief-of-staff-reince-priebus-selected-to-join-navy-with-backing-from-mattis/2018/12/14/b12c269e-ffb4-11e8-83c0-b06139e540e5_story.html?utm_term=.3231251a9d6c

You will be surprised to learn that Scott Walker is not actually a smart man

In a now-deleted Facebook post, a hot air balloon company said it hosted Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on behalf of the Myanmar government. Dorsey says he didn't know the gov connections behind the ride. This comes after heavy scrutiny of his Myanmar trip.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/jack-dorsey-government-organized-hot-air-balloon-myanmar

The Florida Supreme Court ruled yesterday that cops who shoot people can invoke the state's Stand Your Grand law to obtain immunity from prosecution. It's not just a defense—cops are *entirely immune* from criminal charges. http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2018/sc17-1978.pdf